Following His Royal Highness The Duke of Sussex's recent visit to The Scar Free Foundation Centre for Conflict Wound Research, we are calling on ex-serving personnel who have sustained an appearance altering injury whilst in military conflict to take part in an important psychological project.

The first military and civilian wound research centre of its kind in the world was officially opened by Scar Free Foundation Patron Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham today, aiming to minimise the psychological and physical impact of scarring among armed forces personnel and civilians wounded in terrorist attacks.

The Scar Free Foundation Centre for Conflict Wound Research is a ground-breaking national facility that marks a vital step in achieving the charity’s goal of achieving scar free healing within a generation. The opening was featured across local and national media, highlights of which are available here.

Lois Collier (pictured with Scar Free Ambassadors Pam Warren and Dan Jackson) formed Scar Family after an attack which left her with scarring on her face. Lois became a Scar Free Ambassador this year and is now very involved with the Foundation.

We caught up with Lois at her first ever Scar Family event in September, from which she donated the proceeds to The Scar Free Foundation.

We describe the journey to scar free healing as like climbing a mountain, with scar free healing at the summit. Recent scientific breakthroughs, coupled with the important research we have directed to date, has meant that the summit of the mountain is now, for the first time, visible and in reach.

Our annual Showcase, hosted at the British Medical Association, brought together our research teams from Bristol and Birmingham to present on how their work contributes to this important pursuit.

Cleft lip and palate is the most common facial birth defect in the world, with approximately 1,200 children in the UK born with a cleft each year. Our Scar Free Ambassador, Ana Hobbs, whose daughter Abigail was born with a cleft palate, is a vital member of the Cleft Collective Advisory Panel.

The Panel oversees The Scar Free Foundation Cleft Gene Bank & Cohort Study at the University of Bristol. With over 2,000 families recruited to it, the study provides unprecedented insight into the genetic and environmental factors behind cleft, will inform new treatments, and help us to better understand the life-long impact of cleft.

Having been on the Advisory Panel for just over a year, we caught up with Ana to find out more about her experience, and why a parent’s point of view for this research is so important.

In April this year we hosted a reception at the Ministry of Defence Main Building in London. The event brought together our Ambassadors and volunteers along with our researchers and clinicians, and provided information on how they could contribute to our scar free mission.

The Scar Free Foundation has committed to fund the work of the Cleft & Craniofacial Conditions Clinical Studies Group (CCC CSG), in partnership with the Craniofacial Society of Great Britain and Ireland, for a further three years. Part of the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network for Children, the CCC CSG provides cleft and craniofacial researchers with advice on study development, at any stage but in particular at the initial stages of planning and study design.

We are delighted that Andy Helliwell will be running this year's Milton Keynes Marathon for The Scar Free Foundation. Please consider donating here. We caught up with Andy to find out how training was going and to find out his motivation for supporting our work.

With lead funding from HM Treasury and J P Moulton Charitable Foundation, we will later this year open The Scar Free Foundation Centre for Conflict Wound Research. The Centre, based at the University of Birmingham, will bring together uniformed and civilian scientists and clinicians to investigate how the body heals and protects itself following the types of trauma common to conflicts (chemical, burn, and blast injury) and to spearhead the development of new treatments, from the point of injury through to rehabilitation. Ahead of opening, our Office and Finance Manager Amanda made her first visit to Birmingham to meet the team who will be leading the research, and to see the new labs in which the Centre will be housed.

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Lord James Bethell (pictured right, with Chief Executive Brendan Eley) as Chairman of The Scar Free Foundation's Development Board. James will also join The Scar Free Foundation Board of Trustees later this month.

Professor Naiem Moiemen (pictured right with Principal Researcher Robert Dinsdale) is Director of The Scar Free Foundation Centre for Burns Research at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital. We spoke to Naiem about SIFTI-II (Scientific Investigation of the Biological Pathways Following Thermal Injury), a major cohort study which is investigating what happens in the body following a serious burn injury, and tracks the cellular processes behind scarring.

In March we held our first supporter event of the year at the historic Henry VIII Wine Cellar, housed deep within the Ministry of Defence building in Whitehall. The venue is, along with Banqueting House, all that remains of the once magnificent Whitehall Palace. The evening, hosted by Chief of Defence People General Richard Nugee, celebrated the close association between The Scar Free Foundation and the Armed Forces.

Professor Peter Weissberg CBE (pictured left) was today appointed as Chairman of The Scar Free Foundation's Research Council. As the former Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation Professor Weissberg brings unparalleled experience of driving breakthrough medical and scientific research. Professor Weissberg takes over from Professor Sir John Temple (pictured right), who has held the Chairmanship since 2004 and has recently been appointed President of the British Medical Association.

Dr Amber Young is a Consultant Paediatric Anaesthetist at University Hospital Bristol and is the clinical lead for The Scar Free Foundation Centre for Children's Burns Research. We spoke to Amber about a new dressing that detects infection through a simple colour change. This dressing is currently being trialed in collaboration with Professor Toby Jenkins (pictured with Amber) and the University of Bath.

Spencer Murphy is a London-based photographer whose distinctive portraits feature in the National Portrait Gallery's permanent collection. He is the winner of the prestigious Taylor Wessing Potrait Prize (2013) and the Sony World Photography Awards (2014).

Last year we launched the Scar Free Appeal. Our £24 million fundraising campaign will support 10 years of research towards kick-starting our goal of bringing scar free healing treatments to patients by 2045.

Professor Sir Bruce Keogh has become Chairman of The Scar Free Foundation. Sir Bruce, National Medical Director of NHS England and a Scar Free Foundation Trustee since 2014, took over from Stuart Rose, Lord Rose of Monewden, at a meeting of the Board on Tuesday 18 October 2016.

An international audience of burns professionals, researchers and academics joined members of The Scar Free Foundation Children’s Burns Research Centre in Bristol on 1 July to share and develop recent and emerging research work in the area of paediatric burns.

Over 200 guests attended the launch of the private stage of The Scar Free Appeal at St James’s Palace yesterday evening where the charity’s Patron, HRH The Countess of Wessex, spoke movingly of her experiences meeting survivors of scarring and disfiguring conditions.

Some of the most respected researchers in wound healing, bioengineering and stem cell research have joined The Scar Free Healing Foundation to shape a programme of work that will deliver scar free healing within a generation.

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